1994 Bank of England £2 Coin
The 1994 Bank of England £2 is a circulating £2 with 1.44 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1994
- Circulation mintage
- 1,443,116
- Value band
- Face value
- Designer
- Leslie Durbin
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1994 Bank of England £2 worth?
1.44 million were made, so the 1994 Bank of England £2 is easy to find. A circulated one is worth face value; collectors pay a little more only for uncirculated coins and coins still in their original Royal Mint pack.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with crisp edge lettering
- Original Royal Mint pack or presentation folder
- A genuine mint error such as a misaligned or wrong edge, confirmed by an expert
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1994 Bank of England £2 rare?
- No. 1.44 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1994 Bank of England £2 coins were made?
- 1,443,116 were struck for circulation.
- Who designed the 1994 Bank of England £2?
- The design is credited to Leslie Durbin.
- What is the 1994 Bank of England £2 made of?
- Nickel-brass (single metal). It weighs 15.98 g and measures 28.4 mm.
- Can you still spend the 1994 Bank of England £2?
- Technically yes. The Royal Mint says the single-metal £2 coins of 1986 to 1996 are still legal tender, but banks and shops do not have to accept them. Most people keep them, since they almost never appear in change.
Why the 1994 Bank of England £2 was made
The Bank of England was founded in 1694 under a Royal Charter granted by William and Mary, set up to raise money for the government during its war with France. The scheme came from the Scottish merchant William Paterson. Investors lent their money to the Crown and in return were incorporated as a company with the right to take deposits and issue notes. From those beginnings it grew into the nation's central bank, the issuer of its banknotes and the banker to the government, with its headquarters on Threadneedle Street in the City of London.
Its three hundredth anniversary in 1994 was marked with a nickel-brass £2, the first of the series for five years. It followed the same pattern as the coins of 1986 and 1989: a single-metal piece 28.4 mm across that was legal tender but rarely spent. Many went straight into collections or desk drawers at the time, which is why the coin still turns up when families sort through old savings. It is a neat link between the Royal Mint and the institution whose notes sit alongside its coins in every wallet.
How to recognize it
Leslie Durbin based the reverse on the Bank's own Corporate Seal, so it looks more like an official emblem than a picture. Look for the crown and the cypher of King William and Queen Mary as part of the seal, along with the dates 1694 and 1994. The edge is the giveaway that you have this coin and not one of the 1989 issues, which have plain milling: it carries the Latin words SIC VOS NON VOBIS, the motto of the Bank's founder William Paterson, translated as 'Thus we do, but not for ourselves'. Edge text that is faint, misspelled or missing points to a problem. The Queen's portrait on the obverse is by Raphael Maklouf.
The other side carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, used from 1985 to 1997.
1994 Bank of England £2 by the numbers
Measured by how many were made, the 1994 Bank of England £2 ranks 12th lowest of 42 circulating £2 coins with a published mintage. The next scarcer is the 2011 Mary Rose £2 (1.04 million); the next more common is the 2015 Magna Carta £2 (1.5 million).
For scale, the most common is the 2005 End of World War II (VE Day 60) £2 with 10.2 million, about 7.1 times as many. The scarcest is the 1989 Claim of Right £2 with 381,400, 3.8 times fewer than this one.
It was the only circulating commemorative £2 dated 1994.
What to check on your 1994 Bank of England £2
- Read the edge. It should say SIC VOS NON VOBIS (Translation > "Thus we do, but not for ourselves"). A wrong or missing edge inscription is the quickest sign of a counterfeit.
- This early £2 is a single gold-colored metal throughout and heavier than later two-metal coins.
- Weigh it: a genuine single-metal £2 weighs 15.98 g. Fakes are often a little light and softer in detail.
- Compare the portrait and lettering with a known genuine coin. Blurry letters, a flat portrait or uneven spacing point to a copy.
About 1.44 million were struck for circulation, a modest figure for a £2, though far more than the Claim of Right. Circulated examples are generally face value coins, while sharp uncirculated pieces carry a small premium. Condition is the main story here: the seal's fine detail wears quickly. A coin with crisp lettering in the seal and a fully readable edge inscription is the one collectors look for. Store it on its own, in a flip or capsule, so the flat fields stay free of the scratches that come from rattling around with other coins.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 2 pounds |
| Issuer | Royal Mint |
| Year | 1994 |
| Circulation mintage | 1,443,116 |
| Composition | Nickel-brass (single metal) |
| Weight | 15.98 g |
| Diameter | 28.4 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Lettered: SIC VOS NON VOBIS (Translation > "Thus we do, but not for ourselves") |
| Designer | Leslie Durbin |
| Portrait | Maklouf |
Frequently asked questions
What does SIC VOS NON VOBIS mean on the 1994 £2?
It is Latin and was the motto of William Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England. The usual translation is 'Thus we do, but not for ourselves'. The words appear on the edge of the 1994 coin, which marked three hundred years since the Bank was founded in 1694.
Who designed the 1994 Bank of England £2?
Leslie Durbin designed the reverse, adapting the Bank's Corporate Seal with the crown and the cypher of William and Mary. The obverse carries Raphael Maklouf's portrait of the Queen, which was used on UK coins from 1985 to 1997.
Mintage figures: Two pound coin (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Mint figures. How we build these pages.